The New Teacher Project complains that Delaware's tough new evaluation law does not "guarantee" that "demonstrably ineffective" teachers are fired in two years, even though a valid metric of student performance may never be possible. The TNTP consistently plays it cute when discussing its "effectiveness standard based predominantly on student growth." In schools where the graduating class is 1/3rd of the size of its freshmen class, however, there is enough failure to demonstrate on paper that any educator is "ineffective." I support any reliable system for firing incompetent teachers in such a school or any other. But how could the TNTP attract teaching talent to our toughest schools when test growth data would virtually guarantee that effective freshmen teachers would be fired before their first class of students graduates?

Obama's plan to reward schools for innovation sparks debate Washington Post: Most
states will not receive a dime this year from the school reform fund.
Some senior lawmakers say there's a limit to the value of competition
at a time of enormous fiscal strain on schools... Union blasts city schools overhaul plan Boston Globe: The
Boston Teachers Union started galvanizing opposition yesterday to parts
of Superintendent Carol R. Johnson’s plan to overhaul 12
underperforming schools, after she called for teachers to work dozens
of additional hours without extra pay... Pension funds for teachers are short billions
USA Today: The
multibillion-dollar pension funds that promise to pay lifetime benefits
to millions of the USA's retired teachers are more than $900 billion ...NEA Plan for Rewriting NCLB Departs From Obama's EdWeek: The
teachers' union says its blueprint for renewing the Elementary and
Secondary Education Act offers a fresh approach to the law.

Reformers assume that teachers should be held more accountable for increasing student performance, and that hypothesis may or may not be thrown on the junkpile of history. But wouldn't students be better served if administrators concentrated on administration? Shouldn't principals just focus on discipline and refereeing the the diverse personalities in the complex social organizations known as schools? Wouldn't it make more sense to evaluate people on what they actually do and for addressing the circumstances under their control?

Reading Testing Limits, Nick Lemann’s 2001 New Yorker
story about NCLB (from my Biggest Education Stories Of The NCLB Era entry last week) is like opening a time capsule from the not so distant
past.So much optimism.So many early successes.So many problems, known and unknown. So many things (no hearings!?) you may have forgotten. It's an extremely useful reminder of how
school reform gets done and a good thing to consider as reform moves forward
via RTTT, FY11 appropriations, and – eventually – NCLB reauthorization. Read on for a refresher.

The Pentagon leaks, the White House leaks, but where are all the leaks in education? I can only think of a few. The RTTT winners stayed secret until they were announced. So did the judges' identities. Superintendent searches regularly remain closed until the winner is announced. Ditto for the announcement that Obama had chosen Duncan, though his name was no surprise. Hell, we don't even get mug shots of DUI state and district superintendents that the Drudge Report has made de rigeur for everyone else. It's not just recent events. Eight years later, no one's still detailed the conversations (or documents) that took place between the Hill and the White House that led Miller and Kennedy to say they NCLB appropriations should follow authorized levels. Is it that no one cares that much about education, or that education reporters are too close to their sources? Maybe it's FERPA. Yes, that's it. I blame FERPA. Exceptions? The list of 15 states getting extra help from Gates got out. News of the occasional test cheating scandal gets out, too. And I guess you could call Reading First. What am I missing?

Over at GothamSchools, teacher C.W. Arp correctly explains how "‘I don’t care’ is one of the Gigantic Problems." Of course, elementary students like Arp‘s and teenaged students like mine actually "care." Cultivating a reverence for learning is so much more difficult, however, when schools must compete with so many other factors for the affection of our kids. Before the recession when my school had a student parking lot that had cars in it, too many students worked 35 hours a week or more. Some students struggled to support their families, some worked to support their cars, and most labored for a combination of the two. Now, the cell phone is the infernal contraption that students "care" the most about. What students really "care" about, however, is not their job or their possessions but the sense of respect, autonomy, and connectedness that comes with them. The question is: can teachers and school staff give those things to them?

David Remnick's got a new book about Barack Obama out, called The Bridge, which focuses in large part on Obama's life and career in Chicago. According to Remnick, it's not a pretty sight. Obama is measured, political, and profoundly ambitious. Not that there's anything wrong with that. No word yet whether the book delves into Obama's fascinating, somewhat elusive role in Chicago's local school control debate, which I covered for Slate in 2008, or the questions that have lingered about the depth and impact of his time as a community organizer. (I assume it does.) I'm counting on you to say whether there's anything new or interesting about Obama's role on education issues.

Much was made of the outside help that some states got from the Gates Foundation (and who dominated the RTTT finalists list), but this Minnesota Public Radio segment (Application called 'sloppy') reveals that at least one state isn't sure that it was helped all that much:

"A recent review of comments federal officials made on Minnesota's "Race
to the Top" application...calls into question the quality of the
application itself, prepared by New York-based consulting firm McKinsey
and Company."

States push to pay teachers based on performance AP: For parents and politicians hungry for better schools,
the idea of paying teachers more if their students perform better can
seem as basic as adding two and two or spelling "cat."...R.I. Ed. Chief: Failing Schools Need Sweeping Change EdWeek: Gist
said she was troubled by the state's continuing poor test scores,
noting only 17 percent of low-income students were proficient in
reading, according to the 2009 Nation's Report Card...Philly charter schools risk taxpayer money USA Today: An investigation of Philadelphia charter schools has
found that questionable financial practices are putting public funds at
risk of fraud, waste ...Groups oppose Okla. education-spending initiative AP: A coalition of business and labor groups said Thursday
it will work to defeat a ballot initiative to dramatically increase
spending on public education that coalition members said would devastate
the budgets of many other state services and possibly force tax
increases.

Former Clinton-era USDE staffer Goodwin Liu is being groomed for the Supreme Court, according to this Miami Herald article, and conservatives are lining up to delay and oppose his possible nomination, according to The Hill. None of this matters to me. I'm only interested because he's a pro-charter education guy of sorts (I think he worked on National Service), and his wife is Ann O'Leary is formerly of the HRC, which I guess counts as school reform too.* You've read about them here before. Both helped set things up at the USDE during the Obama transition last year. And they got mentioned as an education "power couple" back in 2007. Thanks to the friend of the blog who tipped me off and others who helped fill in. *Correction /clarification: HRC = Hilary Rodham Clinton not Human Rights Campaign.

Education Initiative Is Already a Success NYT: The
Race to the Top initiative won’t solve this country’s education
problems by itself, but it is focusing attention on the right issues
and moving them up the national agenda...The Big Picture on School Performance Sam Chaltain: I have a scorecard to propose: the ABC's of School Success...School Leadership Daily Riff: Being
on the search committee for a new school leader has made my bookmarks
and bookshelves grow with various leadership books and writings to the
point where various board members tagged me with the "go-to archivist"
moniker...Bioethics Invades High School GOOD: Students are now discussing thorny quandaries such as who is
most deserving of organ donations and their feelings
toward genetically modified foods....How to make a rectangle out of a circle Ezra Klein: That's from a surprisingly terrific blog post about, well, math. Almost makes me want to dig out my high school textbooks. Almost.

News outlets gather reactions to the DC teachers contract and predictions about its relevance to other cities facing contract negotiations: D.C. Deal Puts Merit Pay for Teachers on the Syllabus WSJ: The
Washington school system is financing part of the performance-pay
system with $64.5 million from four private foundations. Some school
districts are likely to look at that figure and conclude that a
merit-pay system can't work without help from deep-pocketed donors... D.C. Deal With Teachers Union A Model For U.S.?
NPR: The
plan's $64.5 million price tag would come from an unprecedented
arrangement with four foundations all involved in the city's efforts to
turn around struggling schools...Foundations Would Help Fund D.C. Teacher Contract EdWeek: In
what is believed to be a first of its kind arrangement, four
foundations have committed nearly $65 million for performance pay. The general response seems to be that the contract won't lead to
wholesale changes to other contracts but could prompt adjustments and
efforts in other districts.

The folks at FOD take on classroom cuts with a video putting actors Brian Austin Green and Megan Fox at an overcrowded and underfunded LA elementary school (I think it's Wonderland). The kids are pretty funny, as is the guy playing an idiotic Schwarzenegger aide.

Race to Top Rules Aim to Spur Shifts in Testing EdWeek: Two types of grants will be awarded—one for "comprehensive assessment systems" and one for high school end-of-course tests...Governor: Texas should move to online textbooks
Associated Press:Gov.
Rick Perry proposed Wednesday that Texas abandon using traditional
textbooks in public schools and replace them with computer technology...Schools Warned Against Sex Education NYT: A
prosecutor is urging schools not to follow a new state law which
requires districts with sex education programs to tell students about
contraceptives...New Orleans Schools See Progress Despite Troubles PBS: John Merrow reports on the use of
alternative school programs in Louisiana and progress on negotiations
between a teachers union and public schools in the nation's capital...Is Cash the Answer? TIME: In
the city where Fryer expected the most success, the experiment had no
effect at all — "as zero as zero gets," as he puts it. In
the last city, something remarkable happened.

$350 Million 'Race to the Common Test' Starts Now EdWeek's Michele McNeil: The USDE will award grants to groups of states to create rigorous common tests to
complement the common standards effort already...Prom Regulations Yglesias: The
students in violation were allowed to stay at the prom, but the
following week, each was given the option of receiving corporal
punishment or accepting a three-day suspension from school...Details emerge on educator effectiveness bill EdNews CO Todd Engdahl: The long-awaited educator effectiveness bill would set
new baseline standards for the evaluation and tenure of teachers and
principals but leave the details to an appointed commission and the
State Board of Educationl...Jaime
Escalante changed U.S. schools
forever Jay Mathews: Whenever
I suggested that the great teaching I was seeing at Garfield might be
the reason so many students were succeeding in AP, people at parties
dismissed me as romantic and naive...What Adults Can Learn From Kids Daily Riff: New TED Talk By 12 Year Old (!) Literacy Advocate Who
Sets Us Straight...The
Bristol Palin Abstinence PSA Strategy Gawker: America's
most famous teenage mother has a new commercial denouncing pre-marital
sex...Corn Syrup Disguised as School Lunch Elizabeth Puccini and Anisa Romero GothamSchools: If a student chooses a
peanut-butter-and-jelly sandwich with chocolate milk for lunch (an
option that is offered every day in our schools), he’ll essentially be
eating corn syrup disguised as a meal.

Late last month This American Life told the story of how General Motors tried and failed to transform itself. NUMMI, a collaboration between Toyota and GM, turned around one of America’s most dysfunctional assembly plants. The key was respecting the personal autonomy of workers and their desires to produce a high-quality product. Workers at NUMMI had also received the wake-up call of having their factory
shut down.

Although I’d quarrel with some of Justin Cohen’s take on the NPR program, it does explain a problem with bringing reforms to scale. Educators need a sense of urgency. And conversely, turnaround specialists driven by urgency need to respect the autonomy of teachers as much as the autonomy of principals. Each individual must have the authority to sound the alarm that might shut down the assembly line when it is damaging children. And all of us should recommit to the values of individuality and creativity that made America great.

"The benefits of losing weak teachers in these schools are offset by the fact that such schools often restaff with new teachers."- Ed Week's Stephen Sawchuk on study showing weak teachers leave struggling schools

"Young writers who might have hungrily chased an editorial assistant job at Condé Nast a few years ago now move to New York with the dream of making it as a blogger — either launching their own blog into the big time, à la Perez Hilton, or getting snapped up by a prominent blog network like Gawker Media or MediaBistro." (The
Rising Stars of Gossip Blogs).

The last time Rick Hess submitted to a HotSeat interview was back in the dark ages of the internet (ie, 2006). Lots has changed since then and Hess has a book coming out next week so it seemed about time to check back in with the irascible and indefatigable AEI scholar. As you'll see, Hess hates NCLB more than RTTT. He's concerned about the current overemphasis on turnarounds and thinks that timid school leaders are as much a problem as union contracts. He modulates his thinking but says he doesn't flip-flop like Petrilli or Ravitch. He blogs, but he doesn't read your blog (and he claims he's not interested in Twitter). In contrast to his recent blog posts Hess comes off as sort of mellow (think Jeff Bridges) and doesn't seem to mind being made gentle fun of for his fancy vocabulary.

Yet another sign that RttT isn't any instant solution for state and district budget woes: NPR reports that one of the "least controversial" ways to make up an education deficit is to cut $5 million from the wages and benefits of 600 Nashville school custodians. The district will also reduce the pay of bus drivers by 1/8th. This "Race to the Bottom" occurs as Tennessee will receive a $500 million RttT grant. In just two line items, the state will be investing $46 million for data as Nashville saves $12 per day per bus driver.

Obama
faces challenges to get rest of plans approved Journal Sentinel: Political
observers, analysts and even some lawmakers say the chances are slim
that the president will get much of his domestic agenda through Congress
in the months leading up to the November elections...States Strive to Overhaul Teacher Tenure EdWeek: While Ohio has delayed the time it takes to earn due
process, Delaware will tie the right to student achievement, and Florida
has abolished it....Angry Fla teachers line up to testify against bill Martin Merzer, Associated Press: They arrived early, found strength in numbers but
shared a sense of futility, their legislative battle almost assuredly
lost even before they awakened Monday...Federal funds for drug-free school programs running out Journal Sentinel: A small pool of federal funds that Wisconsin school
officials say helps pay for everything from safety officers to
anti-bullying efforts is drying up this year, leaving local districts
scrambling for alternative revenue sources....Three To Be
Arraigned In High School Bullying Case NPR: Three classmates of a
15-year old high school freshman
who committed suicide in January are scheduled to be arraigned Tuesday
for behavior prosecutors believe led to her death.

Illinois may not have gotten any first round RTTT money but that doesn't mean that Arne Duncan and Barack Obama aren't taking care of their friends back home.

Last week's TQP grant announcement included over $11 million for a small, innovative teacher preparation program at the University of Chicago and $7 million for a program at Governors State University.

Michelle Rhee’s IMPACT evaluation system has been rightly attacked for its high-handedness. And one reason why the District of Columbia’s RttT proposal was correctly rejected was its "opening statement ... raises several concerns about use of RttT to thwart political resistance to the District’s human resources management style." The judge said that the Chancellor should focus more on developing human resources and "less on creating public notoriety."

Ouch. And yet, those who seek a green light for attacking unions and the rest of the "status quo" have not heard an unambiguous prohibition against the scourched earth tactics of NCLB. If you fire up a man or a woman for political combat, give him or her a multi-million dollar, federally-funded set of hammers, then you shouldn't be surprised if a lot of teachers and principals are seen as nails.

From Gawker TV: High Schooler Gets Rejected
From Three Colleges On National TV Christen
Caval is a high school senior who, like many others, is receiving word
from the colleges of her dreams. Unfortunately for her, most high
schoolers don't have to endure three consecutive
rejections on national television...Jamie Oliver's Food Revolution This
week, Jamie moves his food train of redemption to a local high school.
Will the students eat anything besides pizza? Also, he gets some
students to secretly prepare a gourmet meal for local leaders.

Washington State superintendent of schools Randy Dorn apologized last week for driving while intoxicated. It happened after a community crab feed. It sounds like he might have had his family in the car with him. But it took a lot of effort from beat reporters to get the documents that forced the apology, according to the paper that broke the story. And it's not the first time it's happened to a state education chief or other education muckety-muck. And sometimes it ends tragically.

The best part of "The Blind Side" was watching teachers figure out that just because "Big Mike" can't read doesn't mean he's dumb and begin to accommodate their assignments and assessments to his learning needs. Not without reason, teachers complain mightily about the inappropriateness of standardized testing. But as this fictionalized depiction shows they're not always vigilant about their own instructional strategies and classroom assessments. It's difficult, cumbersome work to adapt instruction and assessment to kids' needs -- but far more important I'd argue than adapting annual state tests. [corrected- thanks!]

The dropoff in NAEP Reading scores of 8th graders as opposed
to 4th graders provides the best single indictment of No
Child Left Behind. Sheila Valencia, an education professor, "said 'the
Bush administration’s $1-billion-a-year reading initiative, Reading
First, ... helped young students increase their ability to read words,
but not their capacity for comprehension.'" Tom Loveless of the
Brookings Institution is half right when looking at fourth grade scores
and concluding "our worst readers are getting better, but our best
readers are staying about the same." The scores of 8th
graders in the
bottom 10th percentile have dropped by one point since
2002.

News
is out that the Tribune's award-winning education reporter Stephanie
Banchero is headed to the Wall Street Journal, where she'll be the
national education reporter. Though mostly focused on state and
national issues Banchero also wrote about Chicago Public Schools and was
one of the few journalists who braved to comment on this site using her
own name. Banchero may be best known for her in-depth series about a
little girl named Rayola
Carwellwho changed schools under No Child Left
Behind. (What's your favorite Banchero story?) Her awards include two
first place awards from the national Education Writers Association, a
first place writing award from the Missouri School of Journalism, The
Harry Chapin Media Award, and honorable mentions from the Casey
Journalism Center on Children and Families. She was on leave last year
as a Knight Fellow. Tomorrow is her last day at the Tribune and she will
begin at the
Journal in a few weeks.